Language barriers may prevent Christina Gold from speaking to Western Union tellers in every country around the globe. But as the company's imprint expands to 200 countries and yearly
transactions pass the 200 million mark, Western Union's success needs no translation: Remittances are booming to a worldwide tune of nearly $320 billion last year.

In early April, the company announced mobile money transfers that would allow U.S .customers to send money abroad by using their cell phones.